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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Food Processing and Sensory Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #143069
Title: GENETIC VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON RICE SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS

Author
item Champagne, Elaine
item Bett Garber, Karen
item McClung, Anna
item Bergman, Christine

Submitted to: United States Japan Natural Resources Protein Panel
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/26/2003
Publication Date: 3/1/2003
Citation: Champagne, E.T., Bett Garber, K.L., Mcclung, A.M., Bergman, C.J. 2003. GENETIC VERSUS ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON RICE SENSORY CHARACTERISTICS. United States Japan Natural Resources Protein Panel. II.

Interpretive Summary: Consumers worldwide want rice with specific flavor and texture characteristics. Industry wants rice with specific processing characteristics. To meet these needs, industry must have control over the sensory and processing qualities of rice. This requires having knowledge of genetic influences on flavor and texture and knowing how pre-harvest and post-harvest factors affect these sensory properties. The texture and flavor of seventeen diverse rice varieties grown at the same time in adjacent plots, harvested within a two-week time frame, and processed the same were characterized for two growing seasons. This provided knowledge of differences in sensory properties amongst varieties related to genetic differences and the stability of these properties in the varieties to year-to-year variation in environment. This research will enable industry to select varieties with sensory and processing properties stable to environmental variation and direct varieties to appropriate consumer markets.

Technical Abstract: Consumers worldwide are demanding rice with specific flavor and texture characteristics. To meet consumer need, knowledge of the similarities and differences in both texture and flavor of cultivars is needed. Also needed, is understanding of how sensory characteristics vary with pre-harvest and post-harvest factors in specific cultivars. The objective of this study was to gain an understanding of; 1) flavor/texture differences amongst diverse cultivars related to genetic influences, and 2) how environmental factors affect these sensory properties. This paper presents the findings from a study in which the texture and flavor of seventeen diverse cultivars grown at the same time in adjacent plots, harvested within a two-week timeframe, and processed the same were characterized for two growing seasons.